Doping-China urges sports bodies to reject 'gladiator show' Enhanced Games
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The "Enhanced Games" team attends a press conference to announce new games scheduled for 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh
(Reuters) -The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) has denounced the Enhanced Games on Friday and called on the global sports community to collectively oppose the competition that endorses the use of banned substances.
The Enhanced Games will debut in May 2026 in Las Vegas with swimming, athletics and weightlifting on the agenda for athletes using substances banned in official competition, to the dismay of anti-doping bodies like the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Participants could earn prize money totalling up to $500,000 per event plus bonuses for surpassing a world record mark.
CHINADA denounced the event in a statement to state news agency Xinhua on Friday, calling it "a distorted competition that turns pure sports competition into a drug contest, which serious(ly) contradicts the purpose of the World Anti-Doping Code."
"It severely threatens the physical and mental health of athletes as well as the spirit of sport. In addition, its publicity tactics reveal its nature as a capital-driven initiative.
"CHINADA hereby expresses our firm opposition to any attempt to portray doping as so-called scientific advancements, and calls on the global sports community to stand united in rejecting the Enhanced Games."
The Enhanced Games operate under the principle that banning performance-enhancing drugs in major competitions does not protect athletes but rather stifles their performance. Organisers have called on athletes to join the competition.
However, CHINADA said the Enhanced Games organisers lure athletes with high prizes into risking their health and feeding public appetite for a "gladiator show".
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
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